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    <title>ShellCheck: SC1033 – Test expression was opened with double `[[` but closed with single `]`. Make sure they match.</title>
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    <h1>SC1033 – ShellCheck Wiki</h1>
    <a href="https://github.com/koalaman/shellcheck/wiki/SC1033">See this page on GitHub</a>
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    <h2
id="test-expression-was-opened-with-double--but-closed-with-single--make-sure-they-match">Test
expression was opened with double <code>[[</code> but closed with single
<code>]</code>. Make sure they match.</h2>
<p>(or <a href="SC1034.html">SC1034</a> for vice versa)</p>
<h3 id="problematic-code">Problematic code:</h3>
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb1"><pre class="sourceCode sh"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb1-1"><a href="SC1033.html#cb1-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">[[</span> <span class="ot">-z</span> <span class="st">&quot;</span><span class="va">$var</span><span class="st">&quot;</span> ]</span></code></pre></div>
<h3 id="correct-code">Correct code:</h3>
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb2"><pre class="sourceCode sh"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb2-1"><a href="SC1033.html#cb2-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">[[</span> <span class="ot">-z</span> <span class="st">&quot;</span><span class="va">$var</span><span class="st">&quot;</span> <span class="kw">]]</span></span></code></pre></div>
<h3 id="rationale">Rationale:</h3>
<p>ShellCheck found a test expression <code>[ ... ]</code> (POSIX) or
<code>[[ ... ]]</code> (ksh/bash), but where the opening and closing
brackets did not match (i.e. <code>[[ .. ]</code> or
<code>[ .. ]]</code>). The brackets need to match up to work.</p>
<p>Note in particular that <code>[..]</code> do <em>not</em> work like
parentheses in other languages. You can not do:</p>
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb3"><pre class="sourceCode sh"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb3-1"><a href="SC1033.html#cb3-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="co"># Invalid</span></span>
<span id="cb3-2"><a href="SC1033.html#cb3-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">[[</span> x ] <span class="kw">||</span> [ y <span class="kw">]]</span></span></code></pre></div>
<p>You would instead use two separate test expressions joined by
<code>||</code>:</p>
<div class="sourceCode" id="cb4"><pre class="sourceCode sh"><code class="sourceCode bash"><span id="cb4-1"><a href="SC1033.html#cb4-1" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="co"># Valid basic test expressions (sh/bash/ksh)</span></span>
<span id="cb4-2"><a href="SC1033.html#cb4-2" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="bu">[</span> x <span class="bu">]</span> <span class="kw">||</span> <span class="bu">[</span> y <span class="bu">]</span></span>
<span id="cb4-3"><a href="SC1033.html#cb4-3" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a></span>
<span id="cb4-4"><a href="SC1033.html#cb4-4" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="co"># Valid extended test expressions (bash/ksh)</span></span>
<span id="cb4-5"><a href="SC1033.html#cb4-5" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"></a><span class="kw">[[</span> x <span class="kw">]]</span> <span class="kw">||</span> <span class="kw">[[</span> y <span class="kw">]]</span></span></code></pre></div>
<h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions:</h3>
<p>None</p>
<h3 id="related-resources">Related resources:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Help by adding links to BashFAQ, StackOverflow, man pages, POSIX,
etc!</li>
</ul>
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